High fees stop Ukrainian youngsters attending Dutch colleges

Very few young adult Ukrainians in the Netherlands are attending college or university during their exile, with just 2% attending some form of higher education institute by the time they reach the age of 22.

In total, 800 are signed up for an hbo college or university degree while 230 are attending a trade school, national statistics agency CBS said on Thursday.

The main problem facing young Ukrainians is the cost. They are not eligible for any form of student financing and have to pay far higher fees than EU nationals and official refugees.

The refugee students’ association UAF says that many are paying between €8,000 and €10,000 a year to attend college or university, and just a handful of institutions are charging them the same fees as Dutch students.

“The end of the war is not yet in sight,” the UAF told the Telegraaf. “It is important to give people the opportunity to keep developing and not to end up treading water in the Netherlands.”

Some 98.000 Ukrainian nationals are currently living in the Netherlands, of whom 30,000 are aged between four and 23. Some two thirds of young Ukrainians who do not go to school have a job.